“Yes. Do you see the wick inside the plastic bottle? It absorbs water. So you don’t have to water the plant separately.”

As the Green Plus staff member continued to explain, the visitor who has asked about the self-watering flower pot nodded to show that she understood.

While workers were giving a brief demonstration on how to plant leek in a plastic bottle, the exhibition booth set aside from the main area was crowded with people.

“The worms wouldn't really come out, would they?” “How often should I water it?”

From the people asking questions to those who rolled up their sleeves to get involved in planting things themselves, there were many visitors and the trial program was a great success. In fact, the booth ran out of soil, plastic bottles and young leek by 2 pm. Not only the self-watering flower pots but also the newspaper in which they were wrapped attracted many visitors.

The wrapping paper that Green Plus bought for ethical consumption was made by women with low incomes from Yeong-Wol, Gangwon province, and it was well-suited to the self-watering flower pots. Also, fireproof tiles, paper diapers and the Toad Housing blueprint captivated those who hoped to live an environment-friendly life.

All of these diverse exhibitions and programs could be found at the 2011 Low Carbon Green Growth EXPO in Samsung COEX Hall.

The Ministry of Environment and the Presidential Committee on Green Growth hosted this event to find a way to achieve sustainable growth in the current climate change crisis. At this fair, many companies with various ideas for green growth drew the attention ofvisitors.

The Work Together Foundation arranged booths with 10 teams selected in March for the “2011 Supporting Program of Pre-social Enterprises for Green Growth” supported by LG Electronics and the Labor Union of LG Electronics. They also held a special event in which they wrote their promises for a green society on a tree, which captivated visitors.

On October 12, Myoung-Gi KIM, the vice president of LG Electronics, and Gwang-Taek LEE, the executive director of the Work Together Foundation, visited and watched the diverse activities that the social enterprises are doing with deep interest. Executive Director LEE planted a leek in a plastic bottle himself, smiling for the whole program.

The 10 teams working with the Foundation are as follows: Eco City Seoul, Wonlee Ceramic, Woegajip Madang, Songji, Green Plus, Energy Peace, Toad Housing, Scent of People - the Village Downtown, and Tree Planet. They participated in hands-on programs such as making self-watering pots and cloth diapers, and promoting an atopic dermatitis healing camp for four days from October 12 to 15.